The Bazz Show

Dr. Cornel West, affectionately known to many as Brother West, is the Dietrich Bonhoeffer Professor of Philosophy and Christian Practice at Union Theological Seminary. Dr. West teaches on the works of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, as well as courses in Philosophy of Religion, African American Critical Thought, and a wide range of subjects - including but by no means limited to - the classics, philosophy, politics, cultural theory, literature, and music. He has a passion to communicate to a vast variety of public in order to keep alive the legacy of Martin Luther King, Jr. – a legacy of telling the truth and bearing witness to love and justice.

At the heart of this event with Dr. Cornel West were speakers who not only represented the pinnacle of intellectual thought but also embodied the spirit of community service. Professor Dr. Hassanah El-Yacoubi, an esteemed scholar, shared insights that illuminated minds and inspired hearts. Dr. Soboh, Chairman of the Shura Council, brought his wealth of experience and deep understanding of community dynamics to the fore. L

Eddie is a proud son of Mexican immigrants. He is passionate about dismantling the capitalist institutions that perpetuate the marginalization of our most vulnerable communities. Eddie earned a Bachelor’s degree from University of California, Riverside majoring in International Affairs. He has years of experience working for several municipalities and the California State Assembly. With his free time Eddie enjoys spending time with his wife, hiking with his dogs, working out, and reading. His favorite quote and words to live by are, ” Each generation must, out of relative obscurity, discover its mission, fulfill it, or betray it.”– Frantz Fanon.

Bjorn Holte is a Serial Entrepreneur and inventor. Master in Marketing, specializing on the Internet. Raised more than $11,5 mil in funding. Founded several companies (Norway, US, China), 3 exits, received over a million in grants, 10 patents, and love the challenges of building companies.

Zaineb is a thought leader based in Ann Arbor, Michigan, emerging from a background in film, education, and alignment yoga. She has completed 500 hours of yoga teacher training and is right around the corner from 1,000 hours of teaching. She is passionate about integrating intellectual and spiritual techniques into her roles creating a hybrid dynamic of the commonly understood “Mind-Body-Spirit” connection in relationship to our day-to-day questions and opportunities.

Dirk Hopfl is an experienced higher education professional with 20+ years of experience. He spent the last 15 years in Singapore. Dirk is the founder and Managing Director of eduALTO, a consultancy to help create successful universities.

In parallel, he works as an education expert at Asaya Group and strategic advisor for the EdTech company Speechsquare.

Dirk led the APAC region for Proeduca Group, the largest online education provider in the Spanish-speaking hemisphere. Prior, he was instrumental in the growth of IE University in APAC as International Development Director from Madrid.

He then established the regional office in Singapore covering Southeast Asia, ANZ, Hong Kong, and Taiwan.

Kevin Imboden is director of research at Cushman & Wakefield. He joined in 2017 after a decade of interpreting commercial real estate, retail, data center, and economic data for Real Capital Analytics and working as a freelance advisor for new ventures. He has produced a variety of research in primary and emerging markets, conducted both local and international market analyses, appeared on many podcasts, and presented at speaking engagements.

He has a strong knowledge of the global data center industry, international capital flows, and macroeconomics, and frequently deciphers current and future trends of both local and global markets. He has a combined degree in business management and economics from the University of California at Santa Cruz. Imboden has produced over 100 industry research reports, provided advisory across the data center industry, and restructured all data center research methodology and data structure at Cushman & Wakefield.

He is a key member of team that created the first fully international commercial real estate platform while at Real Capital Analytics and led all global research programs. He has also constructed and managed research teams in Silicon Valley, New York, and London. He currently  serves as the chair of the board of directors for the Community Overcoming Relationship Abuse in San Mateo, California. He served as board secretary at Umunhum Brewing (2016-2019) in San Jose, California, and on the North American Research Task Force (Emeritus), International Council of Shopping Centers in New York 2013-2018. In his free time, he enjoys travel, basketball, yoga, hiking/running, playing the ukulele, baking treats in the kitchen, and obsessing over Formula 1.

Carrie-Lynn Hotson holds a Bachelor of Arts in Law and Psychology, Certified Human Resources Leader accreditation (CHRL) and is a graduate of Interest-Based Mediation training. She has 25 years of experience as a coach, facilitator, and leader, including seven years as a senior human resources manager with extensive experience addressing workplace issues and organizational challenges. She loves speaking at events and working directly with teams. 
Hotson’s expertise in interviewing, onboarding, and training informed her interview coaching business, jobinterviewcoach.ca. What Hotson gleaned from meeting candidates, learning about their skills and abilities, and gaining insight into why they are seeking to leave their current employment has been integrated into her book, Knowing Who You Lead. These key lessons will help current and future leaders empower, engage, and retain employees. Hotson has now expanded her services to include the coaching and mentoring of leaders in her second business inspiringorganizationalgrowth.com.
Hotson lives in Sudbury, Ontario, on a 140-acre farm with her husband, daughter, two horses, beef cattle, and two dogs. She also has three grown sons, a fabulous daughter-in-law and three wonderful grandchildre

In this episode we speak with Dr. Stanley J. Ward who has decades of experience as a writer, educator, and leadership coach.
His writing work includes scores of blog articles as well as two leadership books - Ethical Leadership: A Primer and How to Beat Burnout for Yourself, Your Family, and Your Team. As an educator, Dr. Ward holds a PhD in leadership studies; has served as an instructor, curriculum writer, and administrator in American secondary and higher education settings; and also written curriculum for and taught in a variety of experience-based settings. He is also a frequent presenter for the International Leadership Association's global conferences and guest on various podcasts.
As a coach, his clients have included high-potentials, vice presidents, C-level leaders and business owners in both for-profit and nonprofit settings including aerospace and defense, community development, design, manufacturing, and sales organizations. His work applies executive coach Marshall Goldsmith's observation, "What got you here won't get you there," with a focus on overcoming limiting behaviors that prevent optimum success. He is an Associate Certified Coach (ACC) with the International Coaching Federation.

Alex Zastoupil gives us an inside look on his life and his journey so far.   When Alex was young he used to think of the biggest dreams but quickly was pulled down into the average way of thinking. He got swept into alcohol and drugs even having some life threatening events. However, Alex thankfully came across Grant Cardone and read his book. This changed Alex's life forever. Now Zastoupil has his mission of helping billions of people and delivering education to children all around the world. He is truly an amazing man and has a bright and enormous future ahead.

Tatiana Scantlebury (she/her) is a native New Yorker of Barbadian descent. She is passionate about international criminal and human rights law. Tatiana is a dedicated member of her community and is committed to justice work in the domestic and international arena. She obtained her Bachelor’s Degree from an HBCU, Delaware State University in Criminal Justice, and a Master’s Degree from John Jay College of Criminal Justice in Human Rights. Throughout her academic matriculation, Tatiana has participated in the Historically Black College/University Foreign Policy Conference in Washington D.C. with the U.S. Department of State and participated with Delaware Lawmakers within their Criminal Justice Reform Reentry Simulation Training program. Tatiana has had the opportunity to study abroad in London, UK, where she studied comparative criminal justice. While pursuing her Master’s Degree, she simultaneously served as an AmeriCorps member and Legal Hand Volunteer. Tatiana currently serves as the President of the UNA-USA Bronx Chapter and has participated as a youth delegate to the Friendship Ambassadors and the ECOSOC HLPF Youth Forum. She has worked within the non-governmental and non-profit sectors, exploring international women’s rights and ending hunger domestically and internationally. In this role, she hopes to create sustainable and inclusive spaces for marginalized and intersectional communities while shifting narratives within the global justice arena.

Alesia serves as the Advocacy Chair of the UNA Greater Detroit Chapter. She has served in that position since 2018. Before becoming affiliated with UNA-USA, Ms. Morris worked in Washington D.C. for former U.S. Senator Robert Kerry of Nebraska. She holds a Masters in International Business from the University of Texas – Dallas and a Bachelor of Science from the University of Nebraska – Omaha. Alesia has long been engaged with the not-for-profit community. In addition to UNA-USA, she has served on the Board of OWIT- Organization of Women in International Trade (Dallas-Fort Worth) and with Friendship West Baptist Church in Dallas, where she mentored young African-American women in what it takes to be successful in school, in business, and in life. In 2018, Alesia participated with UNA USA Greater Detroit chapter in the Universal Periodic Review Consultation on water rights in partnership with Ohio State University. 

They gathered information and recommendations to be included in the UNA USA Shadow report in preparation for the US to appear before the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva. In 2019, the chapter honored Dr. Mona Hanna-Attisha, the pediatrician that exposed the water crisis. UN Day 2020, UNA USA Greater Detroit acknowledged Doing Watershed Coalition for their work regarding the water crisis. In the midst of the pandemic, Ms. Morris was able to bring together organizations and individuals that represent all seventeen Sustainable Development Goals throughout the state of Michigan for United Nations Day 2020 (UNA USA Greater Detroit and UNA USA Greater Lansing chapter) an event that featured former United Nations Ambassador Andrew Young.

Sofia Rinvil’s commitment to justice and human rights was inspired by her experiences growing up, which sparked a passion for business, law, and policy. Sofia is a natural problem solver. She wants to spend her career helping those in need to formulate a broad strategy to protect legal rights or bring about social change. Her current interests lie in the particular practice experience needed to navigate the evolving fields of entrepreneurship and community development. Sofia has held various Board positions and volunteer leadership positions with several organizations, including the American Cancer Society, American Constitution Society, and Columbia University. Sofia also volunteers her time to young scholars as a Mentor to college and graduate students. She has used her legal education to volunteer as a Court Appointed Advocate to help foster children in the court system. She holds degrees in Political Science, Global Affairs and Human Security, Negotiation and Conflict Resolution, and Law from separate top-tier programs. In her free time, she enjoys reading, cooking, traveling, binge-watching shows, and boxing.

Kareem Gongora is a communications professional who has devoted his career to serving others. Kareem has worked within hard-to-reach communities coordinating after-school programs for at-risk youth, developing asset-building programs and tax credit awareness campaigns, as well as overseeing self-sufficiency grants and contracts to support families.

In 2014, Kareem was honored as “Young Leader of the Year” by the Inland Empire Hispanic Chamber of Commerce and recognized as a “30 under 30” in 2017 by Assemblymember Eloise Gomez Reyes. In 2018, he was appointed by the Speaker of the California Assembly to the California State Bar Committee of Bar Examiners, overseeing the bar exam, first-year law exam, as well as the state’s accredited, registered, and unaccredited law schools.

Kareem holds a BA in English from UC Riverside, MA in Management from the University of Redlands, and is currently attending California Baptist University to earn his Doctorate in Public Administration. He works for the County of Riverside as a public information officer, and also serves as a member of the County of San Bernardino Planning Commission as well as South Coast Air Quality Management District Environmental Justice Advisory Group.

Cynthia is an honors student studying International Affairs at the George Washington University. As
a first-generation American raised in the Southeastern United States, Cynthia grew up witnessing inequality throughout her community and abroad, which led her to develop a commitment to global citizenship, human rights, and youth empowerment at an early age—a commitment that motivated her to serve as a lifelong advocate for the UN and its vital work.

Cynthia brings nearly seven years of experience as a leader at UNICEF USA and previously served on their National Council. She has interned in the U.S. Senate, U.S. Department of Transportation, and U.S. Small Business Administration. Previously, Cynthia served as a Fellow at the Embassy of France in the United States and the Ministry of Tourism of the Republic of Indonesia.

This year, Cynthia hopes to continue bridging the gap between youth and the UN by elevating young people’s voices, building community within the UNA-USA youth and student network, and supporting youth leaders across the United States.

Being appointed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger as a student board member to the California State University Board of Trustees, Corey represented over 400,000 students in the largest and most respected public higher education system in the nation from 2004-2006. Jackson is a graduate of CSU San Bernardino where he received his degree in political science and served as Chair of the Santo Manuel Student Union Board of Directors. He is also a graduate of California Baptist University where he received his Master of Social Work degree.

Kyle Cardoza is a well-rounded professional who has worked In a variety of different industries. He has taken his Stellar communication skills and applied them to many different niches such as event marketing & promotions, broadcast journalism, and online advertising. Kyle’s natural ability to communicate effectively is what sets him apart. He is skilled in public speaking, interpersonal communication, event marketing, sales, news anchoring and news reporting, with an emphasis on on-camera interviewing. Kyle has worked extensively with online advertising systems such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook Advertising. Kyle has a strategic communications degree with a focus in media studies and public relations from Bridgewater State University.

A captivating story detailing how resilience and inner strength can be combined to overcome mountainous barriers to reach one’s full potential.

Growing up in Ferguson, Missouri, Stanley Andrisse began making poor decisions at a very young age. He started selling dope and was arrested for the first time at fourteen years old. By his early twenties, dope dealing had exponentially multiplied, and he found himself sitting in front of a judge facing twenty years to life on drug trafficking charges. The judge sentenced him to ten years in a maximum-security prison.

Prison was an experience like none other he’d ever encountered. While challenged with a strong desire for self-renewal, he faced an environment that was not conducive for transformative change. From poor institutional structure and policies to individual institutionalized thinking and behaviors, he battled on a daily basis to retain and maintain his humanity.

Upon release, and after several rejections, Stanley was accepted into a PhD program. He completed his PhD/MBA simultaneously and became an endocrinologist and impactful leader at Johns Hopkins Medicine, specializing in diabetes research.

About Dr. Stanley

Dr. Stanley Andrisse is an endocrinologist scientist and assistant professor at Howard University College of Medicine researching type 2 diabetes and insulin resistance. Dr. Andrisse holds a visiting professorship at Georgetown University Medical Center and held an adjunct professorship at Johns Hopkins Medicine after completing his postdoctoral training. Dr. Andrisse completed his PhD at Saint Louis University and his MBA and bachelor’s degree at Lindenwood University, where he played three years of Division II collegiate football. Dr. Andrisse’s service commitments include: Executive Director and Founder of From Prison Cells to PhD, board member on the Formerly Incarcerated College Graduates Network (FICGN), past president of the Johns Hopkins Postdoctoral Association, founder of the Diversity Postdoctoral Alliance, member on several local and national committees aimed at community outreach, youth mentor, motivational speaker, and community activist.

Caroline graduated from Harvard College in 2018 with a B.A. in Anthropology, a completed pre-medical track, a secondary field in human evolutionary biology, and a language citation in Spanish Language and Literature. She is originally from Lindenhurst, NY. 

She is currently a Global Goals Ambassador for Sustainable Cities and Communities, a GPODS (Global Policy, Diplomacy, and Sustainability) Fellow, and serves as the Chief Partnership and Innovation Officer for the Youth Sustainability Development Conference 2021: Pan-African Edition, the Global Board Treasurer for the International Association of Political Science Student, the Founding President & Chairwoman for the UNA Brooklyn Chapter Young Professionals, and is an En-Roads Climate Ambassador and Climate Reality Leader. She is a YOUNGA 2020 Delegate and has attended the 2019 UNGA74 Youth Climate Summit and Social Good Summits.

For her innovative work and partnerships for Sustainable Cities and Communities and concern for adverse effects on youth empowerment, she was invited to the 2019 World Bank Group Youth Summit Delegate for Smarter Cities for a Resilient Future and the First Annual Conference in Global Energy Transition Law and Policy. She has also been a youth speaker at several conferences hosted by ANYL4PSD Africa, the YSDC Network, EnviPol, and Avant Guarde, Ltd. on issues ranging from quality education, decent work, climate action, and partnerships.

Caroline is currently consulting for a Harvard College team building a spring semester curriculum on sustainability, and she is preparing to launch an independent sustainability consulting startup based out of New York City.

Building corporate partnerships and leading internal innovation to reduce inequities across various demographics by increasing digital inclusion to close the digital divide and reducing the environmental effects of electronics.

A natural problem solver, Adam is adaptable and has found success in vastly different industries by being creative and persistent. He prefers to use data to drive strategy, regardless of industry or role, and is comfortable communicating, internally or externally, at any level of an organization. Adam has launched multi-million dollar business initiatives and helped individual households access resources that they desperately need to succeed in today's increasingly digital world.

Adam holds an MBA from UCLA's Anderson School of Management and the Leaders in Sustainability Certificate from UCLA's Institute of the Environment and Sustainability.

Ruben Harris is a Bay Area transplant from Atlanta, Georgia where he served as an Advisor for Forge and organized Atlanta's first Healthcare Hackathon.

Over the past couple of years, Ruben has worked with academics, organizers, politicians, and union leaders at Hustle, Honor and AltSchool focused on improving their personalized outreach, healthcare and education.

Ruben began his technology career working in Partnerships and Sales after writing a viral blog post called Breaking Into Startups about how he moved to San Francisco without a job and landed a position 3 weeks later.

After receiving thousands of e-mails asking how to break into tech, Ruben Co-Founded the Breaking Into Startups Podcast to demystify the process, resulting in a social media reach of ~3 million people, 200,000+ downloads, 10,000+ website visits per month, over 100+ reviews on iTunes, a Facebook Community of 10,000+ people, and invitations to be a Contributor for TechCrunch and Black Enterprise.

Prior to working in tech, Ruben worked as an Investment Banker focused on Food, Consumer, and Retail companies in Chicago and Atlanta. As a member of the Chicago Council on Global Affairs, he recruited others to focus on issues related to food security, climate change, and agriculture.

In 2010, Ruben worked on operational improvements for Senior Living Communities after completing a double major in Business Administration and Music.

During college, Ruben organized 50+ events for non-profits, athletes, and celebrities including Tyrese, Kim Kardashian, and Jay-Z.

Ruben has been playing the cello for ~25 years, taught music, performed in venues all over the world - including Carnegie Hall, and landed placements from Def Jam.

He is also an active member of the NAACP.

In this episode, I speak with Trinity about growing up in the slums of Uganda and escaping extreme poverty and violence through the love of technology. Trinity is a social entrepreneur from Kampala, Uganda with a passion for upskilling the next generation of skills, digital talent in preparation for jobs and entrepreneurial opportunities in Africa. Trinity leads era92 a youth creative agency training and employing Uganda's young adults in DESIGN, ARTS & TECHNOLOGY. T

Trinity a co-founder of 92hands a movement that mobilizes young adults across Africa to carry out intensive community services, becoming agents of change in the communities they come from, through educating and empowering the vulnerable people of Uganda. Trinity is an entrepreneur, Trinity is particularly passionate about sustainable wages for up-and-coming African creatives. Trinity believes the best ideas come from win-win collaborations.

- Trinity believes that talent is equally distributed but the opportunity is not. Trinity is an opportunity creator, committed to releasing the brilliance of millions of unemployed young people in Africa
- Trinity speaks at local and international workshops and conferences on my vision for The New Africa.
- Passionate about seeing THE AFRICA without Poverty, full of opportunities.
- Trinity lead a team of 18 as a social entrepreneur founding agency to train to employ young African designers and entrepreneurs.
- Ambassador for Fields of Life in East Africa
- Selected among the 37 Social entrepreneurs to watch out for in 2020
- Nominated and Elected inspired individual in Africa 2020 By Tearfund

Graduating in 2021? What should you do? Here's some life-changing career advice after graduating. This will help you excel with good habits, overcoming debt, and find your passion. Take charge of 2021!

For Lydiah, 8B’s mission is personal. 8B Education Investments was born from Lydiah’s time developing strategy and innovation with global implications. A scalable market-based solution investing in African human capital is necessary in a set of tools aiming to accelerate African prosperity and sustainable development. Lydiah and her team are determined to meet African problems with a critical mass of world-class African solvers and ecosystem builders.

In the two decades since she first applied to her undergraduate studies, Lydiah has watched colleagues, friends, and family and African students admitted to and attending prestigious colleges cut short their studies and their ambitions, as necessary funding failed to materialize.

Over the past 15 years, Lydiah has worked on a wide range of global policy agendas at organizations such as the World Bank, the Executive Office of the UN Secretary-General, the World Health Organization, and the International Center for Transitional Justice. Lydiah led the UN’s collaboration with the World Bank on the Global Concessional Finance Facility, an innovative financing window for refugee-hosting communities.

Lydiah holds a doctorate in politics from the University of Oxford, and additional degrees from Oxford and Cornell University.

In this episode, I discuss the growing challenges in higher education with Dr. Brownlee. We talk about student success, innovation and doing things differently after the pandemic. 

Dr. Mordecai Ian Brownlee currently serves as the Vice President for Student Success at St. Philip’s College. Effective July 15, 2021, he will serve as President of the Community College of Aurora (Aurora, Colorado) within the Colorado Community College System.

Dr. Mordecai's mission as an educator is to work collectively with all stakeholders to create a safe and equitable learning environment that promotes student inclusion, student engagement, and student success.

Julie Margretta Wilson is a coach and advisor to school leaders, educational institutions, and foundations whose mission is to shape the future of K–12 education. She has over fifteen years’ experience building effective learning environments that unlock human potential and enable organizational culture to adapt and grow during times of change. She is the founder and executive director of Institute for the Future of Learning, a nonprofit organization dedicated to helping transform the 'one size does not fit all' model of education. The Institute works with a diverse range of clients including public schools, independent schools, public charter schools, and educational philanthropic organizations.

Recent speaking engagements include TEDx, fuse, the Center for Transformational Leadership, and the Science of Teaching and Leadership Academy. Julie graduated from Harvard’s Graduate School of Education with a master’s degree in technology, innovation, and education, and a bachelor’s of arts in business administration and French from Queens University in Belfast, Northern Ireland. During her time as a staff member at Harvard, Julie was the recipient of the Harvard Hero award for outstanding contributions to the University.

Phillip Raub is Chief Executive Officer of Model No., the first custom furniture brand that operates at the intersection of technology, design, and sustainability. Raub joins Model No. from b8ta, where he served as President and Co-Founder of the software- powered retailer. In this role, he pioneered the retail-as-a-service concept which leverages data analytics to provide brand partners with consumer products engagement and feedback data in real-time. He was also integral in expanding the brand to new markets domestically and internationally. Additionally, he served as Co-CEO of Toy Retail Showrooms, the operator of Toys “R” Us® stores in the U.S., where he led the vision to evolve the iconic toy store into an experiential retail brand. Prior to b8ta, he served as Head of Global Channel Marketing for Nest at Google. Over the years, Raub has proven to be a true innovator operating at the intersection of commerce and technology and distinctly poised to position Model No. as the category leader in the furniture industry at the cross section of technology and sustainability.

in this episode, I talk with Global Branding Expert Rana Mouawad about the secrets of branding that lead to becoming an influencer. We discuss the challenges of gaining followers but losing your personal brand. She wants to help you build a healthy business mindset, curiosity around creating a business and life you desire, provoke change, calculated risks and growth.

In this episode, I answer the question "What's the number one skill post-pandemic?" Although there are thousands of important skills but most importantly this skill is what people are going to need in 2021 to survive. 

A committed water quality and compliance professional, Gracie Torres joined Western’s Board of Directors in December 2018 and now serves as Vice President. She  represents Division 2, which includes portions of the City of Riverside located southeast of the 91 Freeway and west of the 215 Freeway, portions of Lake Mathews, March Air Reserve Base, and Woodcrest.

Vice President Torres is a previous recipient of the Western - Lois B. Krieger Endowed Scholarship. She received the award while attending California State University San Bernardino. In 2019, Gracie was awarded an “IMPACT Award” by the Pick Group of Riverside for Civic Impact and recognized as “35 under 35” in 2020 by Young Elected Officials Network.

Gracie Torres is a longtime Riverside resident and a proud product of Riverside Unified School District schools as well as Riverside Community College. Her passion for water quality and environmental science developed when she earned her Bachelor’s degree in Chemistry/Biochemistry and a Master's in Earth and Environmental Sciences from California State University, San Bernardino (CSUSB). She is currently working on a Doctorate in Public Administration at Cal Baptist University (CBU).  Professionally, she is a water chemist and water quality compliance planner with Riverside County Flood Control and Water Conservation District and is an adjunct chemistry professor at CSUSB.

Director Torres serves on Western's Executive Ad Hoc Committee.  She also sits on the board for Western's Engineering, Operations and Water Resources and Community and Government Affairs Committees. She also serves on the joint committees for the City of Riverside, Eastern and Rancho California Water Districts and the Riverside Advisory Council. In addition, Director Torres is Western’s representative for the March Joint Powers Authority Successor Agency Oversight Committee, the Chino Desalter Authority, the Association of California Water Agencies Joint Powers Insurance Authority and the Woodcrest Municipal Advisory Council. Director Torres is the District’s alternate representative for the Western Riverside County Regional Wastewater Authority and the Highgrove Municipal Advisory Council.

Gracie Torres and her husband live in Riverside with their three children. Her current term on the Western Board of Directors expires in December 2022.

In this episode, I speak with Stacey about the process of finding a job that aligns with your values. We discuss all the hurdles that one has to go through from discrimination all the way to beating the applicant system. Stacey A. Gordon is a Diversity, Inclusion, and Career Strategist who works to reduce bias in recruiting and barriers to hiring. Leading at the intersection of recruiting, career development, diversity and workplace culture, Stacey has delivered keynote speeches globally and developed educational content that has engaged professionals both in-person and in a virtual environment. She focuses on reworking how companies work. That includes how they recruit, hire and engage women and professionals of color.

Stacey is the creator of the number one resume course at LinkedIn learning and her unconscious bias course has been translated into several languages. She is a highly rated coach practitioner who has facilitated coaching of Chief Diversity Officers and other D&I practitioners at several Diversity & Inclusion forums. She was recognized by Pepperdine University as a Top 40 Over 40 Leader, was a finalist for Los Angeles Business Journal’s Women Helping Women Award and was recognized by Forbes as a Top 3 Business Leader Who Spoke Out About Diversity & Inclusion.

In this episode, I answer "How to get views?" Everyone struggles with figuring out how to generate traffic and create content that resonates with their audience. People want leads, sales, and a community but time and time again people fail to get what they are looking for because their audience is limited and they don't know how to grow. 

In this episode, I speak to Anna about the opportunities available through the UNA-USA network. We discuss how college students and young professionals can get involved with the United Nations and work to shape policy on a global level. Anna Mahalak manages youth engagement initiatives for the United Nations Association of the USA, a program of the UN Foundation. 

Her work focuses on elevating youth voices in building public support for the UN through the UNA-USA campus chapter network, the U.S. Youth Observer program, and young professionals programming. Before joining the UN Foundation, Anna worked at The George Washington University in the Division of Student Affairs. She has a master’s in Higher Education Administration/Student Affairs from The George Washington University and a B.A. in Government from The College of William and Mary.

In this episode, I answer a question from the audience on why organizations fail. I highlight four aspects that cause any company, nonprofit or university to become irrelevant and ultimately walk down the path of failure.  

In this episode we discuss the world of university marketing with Amber,  Director of Marketing at the USC to understand the student recruitment process, shifts in higher education and what the future of marketing entails post pandemic.  

Amber Tolan is the Director of Marketing at the USC Rossier School of Education where she leads student recruitment marketing for ten graduate programs. With 14 years of marketing experience across multiple industries and degrees in business, digital art/web design, and marketing, Amber brings a deep understanding of the multiple disciplines of marketing to her work. She resides in Los Angeles with her husband and son.

“I Help Students Get Paid to Go to College” is not just a slogan but a lifestyle for him. He was blessed to earn enough financial aid and scholarships to be paid to go to school. He could do this while being a non-traditional student, father of 4 sons in High School, and an active member of my church.

Now he is helping other students and parents learn how to choose a career, find the right school, find funding, and how to use tools to be more successful while in school. It is his passion to teach others that student debt is not a necessary evil while attaining a degree. Let his help you with what he did to earn more than one degree with other people’s money!

In this episode, we speak with Stephanie Otero, CEO of Feeding America to discuss the challenging food crisis that took place during the Covid-19 pandemic. We also discuss new opportunities to tackle food waste and innovative approached to solving the hunger crisis.

Feeding America Riverside | San Bernardino ("FARSB") began in April 1980 as Survive Food Bank distributing about 10,000 pounds of food per month and partnering with about 20 local nonprofit agencies.   Today, FARSB distributes over 2 million pounds of food per month and partners with over 250 local nonprofit agencies.

FARSB is one of 200 food banks affiliated with Feeding America, the National Food Bank Network.  FARSB serves the Riverside and San Bernardino Counties, aka the Inland Empire.   There are over 800,000 people who live below the poverty line in the Inland Empire and over 400,000 people who are food insecure.  Our food bank is the largest hunger-relief organization in the Inland Empire, with over 100,000 people who rely on us each month.

Today we speak with Dr. Goldston on the new world of Blockchain, AIs, and NFTs! Recently, we've heard all the hype about buying digital art, what does that mean? How are some companies using blockchain to create solutions to social problems? And what does AI have to do with it? Find out all of that on this episode. 

Dr. Goldston shares his vision of this not-to-distant future. Justin Goldston, Ph.D. is a leading expert on blockchain technology and its inclusion in business enterprises. As a certified management consultant, he has worked with leaders of organizations implementing enterprise applications around the world. With his love for technology and his passion to make a positive impact on social change, Dr. Goldston has made it his mission to bring technological knowledge and capabilities to the people. Dr. Goldston is a member of The Blockchain Council, The World Blockchain Association, The Government Blockchain Association, and is currently studying in one of the first Blockchain programs in the country at Cornell University. With a belief that it was his time to pay it forward, 

Dr. Goldston entered into academia teaching both undergraduate and graduate programs at Aurora University, North Carolina Wesleyan College, as well as being a guest lecturer at Rutgers University and Morgan State University . Dr. Goldston was selected to evaluate one of the first doctoral programs in Quality Systems Management for the Massachusetts Department of Higher Education. Goldston has shared his research on various technologies at both academic and professional conferences around the world and is the author of the book Critical Success Factors in ERP implementations in Manufacturing Environments.

Today I speak with LinkedIn Top Voice and Co-Host of EdUp Experience Elizabeth about being bold, authentic, and vulnerable on social media. She's grown her social media following to over 40,000 followers in just under a year by speaking her truth and connecting with what people are feeling. We talk about everything from social media growth to young people's authenticity in the workforce. 

Elizabeth Leiba was born in London, England and raised in sunny south Florida. She is a published writer and have had several articles published in the Sun-Sentinel newspaper in Fort Lauderdale. She has also been published in the Seminole Tribune, the official newspaper for the Seminole Tribe of Florida, where she served as the editor for several years. Elizabeth holds a Bachelor of Science from the University of Florida in Gainesville, FL where she majored in journalism with a minor in education.

She also holds a Master of Business Administration with a focus in Global Management from the University of Phoenix and pursued Interdisciplinary Studies at Western New Mexico University. Over the past decade, Elizabeth has worked as an English Professor both face to face and online for various public and private colleges and universities. Most recently, she has worked as an instructional designer for City College, where she develops and deploys online classes for almost 1,000 students across seven campuses in Florida. Elizabeth’s newest adventure has been serving as a co-host on the successful higher education podcast The EdUp Experience.

-Today, I speak with my friend Robert Jackson from the King Center based in Atlanta, Georgia. Over the past couple of years, I've gotten to learn about the important work they are doing in advocating for nonviolence, justice, and preserving Dr. King's legacy.